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POLITICO 44

Paul won the GOP nomination in large part because of support from tea party activists and fundraising boosted by regular money bombs — short online fundraising drives — that originated during his father's 2008 presidential bid, and proved to be profitable.
Since Paul won the general election, however, he's had trouble keeping up the enthusiasm from his online activist base and tea party members. In a Facebook friend drive earlier this month, Paul's campaign aimed to get 100,000 people to sign up for his Web page — but fell about 40,000 people short.

Paul set out to beat his fundraising record of $436,000 from last year's August money bomb, according to an interview published Aug. 18 with the libertarian website Liberty Maven and later posted to his official Facebook page.

"Last year on Aug. 20 — my dad's 74th birthday — the 'Run Rand Run' Money Bomb raised $436,000 in 24 hours. This year, for two days on August 19-20, we're hoping to meet or exceed that goal," Paul told Liberty Maven.

Paul also reminds supporters in both an e-mail and a video that his opponent, Democratic nominee Jack Conway, put more than $500,000 of his own funds into the race. The website also shows a bar graph for the fundraising drive only about half-full of cash and a $500,000 top line.

Nonetheless, Paul's haul is more than he's raised in recent money bombs. A money bomb on June 28 had a set goal of $100,000 that was surpassed when Paul's campaign brought in $172,000 in two days. Before Paul won the primary in late March, a money bomb brought in $262,000 in 24 hours.

The fundraiser also gives a much-needed boost to Paul's fundraising. Both Paul and Conway were hurting for funds after hard-fought May primaries. At the end of June, Conway reported $700,000 in the bank and Paul reported $319,000 cash on hand.

A Rand Paul spokesman, Gary Howard, did not return several requests for comments on whether the campaign had reached its goal. However, a statement from the campaign Monday morning indicates the campaign is happy with its haul.

"Dr. Paul has made a great success of tapping into a large base of donors over the past year, and this is just another example of the campaign's fundraising proficiency and wide base of support," the statement read.

Les than two months ago, Paul boasted that he had a 25 point lead over Conway. That lead has evaporated and the Cook Political Report rates the Kentucky race as a toss-up. There are many staunch republicans in KY campaigning for Conway.

How disingeneous is it of Paul to espouse term limits while he supports his father's run for his 11th term In TX? He says he is against farm subsidies while his relatives have been getting them for years.

How hypocritical for a conservative (republican I presume) to criticize a democrat's fundraising and not mention what is going on with the republican party on this issue.

That's the thing about politics these days. If you disagree with another's political viewpoints but there is rationality behind their thinking, you can have an intelligent debate about things. When the other side makes no sense in their proven records (tax cuts for the rich as an example), and the are completely hypocritical in their rhetoric, there will never be a consensus.

I live in a republican district. About 80% of the people I know are republicans. I know small-business owning republicans who have cancer and can't get adequate treatment (they do not have medical insurance) who are against the health care bill recently passed. They believe they should take whatever handouts from medicaid they can get but think it is outrageous they should contribute themselves (in the form of paying medical insurance premiums). I saw someone I know parent's purchase Glenn Beck's book in Costco who receive food stamps while on Workmen's Comp but still work under the table. They live in a $1,700 waterfront house they rent and never pay the rent on time. They had their electric shut off because they were in the hole for $8,000. I'm sure there are democrats who live this way as well. The difference is the hypocrisy. I don't live this way and have no respect for people who do.

The republican party has turned into a disaster. Their national political platform is to vote against any type of progress in this country and hope Obama fails. They see this as their only way to regain power of a government they claim should stay out of their business until they demand that it intervene in an emergency (The Gulf oil spill and Terry Schiavo come to mind). The light at the end of the tunnel is that they have alienated too many groups (gays, ethnics, the middle class, the military), they have no hope of lasting much longer.

Shira Toeplitz;;;You by no means would be a Democrat ,would you ????? The liberal news writers can not save the Democratic party from being kicked in the AS# at election time---matter of fact you have helped put them in the position they are in by continue lying and refusing to be trueful with the American People...The American people even think less of the News Media than they think of the President and Congress !!!

Why is it that when republican's get outted for their hypocrisy, they cry lamestream media. Reminds me ot Laura Bush telling us during her husband's tenure that all was well in Iraq - if just the mainstream media would tell us so.

Faux News initiated the slide into disrespect and distrust of the news media. It became increasingly clear that the network is little more than a propaganda machine. If any doubt remained about that, the recent huge donation Rupert Murdoch made to right wing politicians erased it. MSNBC's left wing slant came about in response to Fox. The ideological split is terrible for the country.

Sadly, many Americans seem to be non-thinking sheep who will buy a package of feces if it is presented in a way that attracts them, e.g. Limbaugh and Beck. The talkers' minions lap it up without ever considering doing a fact check on what they spew.

The politicians jockey only for power, the talking heads make millions, the CEO's do well, wingnuts carry guns and scream at anyone who will listen (or even who won't) while the country slides further into the toilet.

Why is spending $500,000. of his own money any different than Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina or the Republicans in Florida putting millions of dollars into their campaigns. Is that okay with Conservatives?

Why is spending $500,000. of his own money any different than Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina or the Republicans in Florida putting millions of dollars into their campaigns. Is that okay with Conservatives?

LOL! Have you run out of attacks? Raising $250,000+ 'falls short' as a headline? You do realize his opponent tried and FAILED to raise $20,000 over a similar period a couple of weeks ago? Where was the headline then?

When RON Paul raised over $6 MILLION on a single day, the 'goal' of supporters was $10 million. The goal is ALWAYS higher, to aspire to.

Rand Paul is a nutcase just like his father. As more and more people see just what kind of ignorant hypocrite he is his poll numbers will continue to drop.

Lunatics like Paul, Bauchman, Palin, Beck, Limbaugh, etc... do nothing but stir up the rest of the nutcases with their lies and distortion of facts. The ignorant will always cheer these morons on because their lives are so pitiful that all they want to do is blame and hate.

There will be no takeover of congress in November. History will show what a bunch of idiots these people and their followers were.

66 gardeners.....You know what I dislike about hyprocrites..they tend to be biased. If you want to rant about hyprocrisy with the repubs lets explore the dems...john kerry for instance. purchasing a yacht (a big boat) but to get the lowest tax rate, he harbors the boat in another state. how about a president that tells us that no lobbyists will exist in his administration but then exempts over 30. how about a president that said he would post bills for 5 days for the entire country to read before he would sign them. How about a treasury secretary or a chairman of a committee in the house that don't pay taxes while the rest of us peasants do. How about a democratic congress that exempts themselves and their special interest from particular sections of the healthcare bill that effect all citizens.

But you're right....we do have progress under the dems....we have tripled the national debt and are on schedule to have a 1.6 trillion dollar deficit this year and national unemployment is over 9.5%.

How disingeneous is it of Paul to espouse term limits while he supports his father's run for his 11th term In TX? He says he is against farm subsidies while his relatives have been getting them for years.

Do you know anything about the farm program? Unless you have registered with USDA, you are not able to purchase hail or crop insurance. And, the clincher is, the feds tell you what to plant, where to plant, how many acres etc. If you deviate with 1 acre, you are penalized. The insurance needs to be privatized and the Feds need to stay away from the fields. They even think one can plant a field without raising any dirt.

There are many people who have invested in farms, put it all in set-asides and collect annual checks - most of them are the uber elite living in the metropolitan areas. I don't know which relatives of Paul's receive farm subsidies or if they are true farmers or city dwellers. But the farm program needs to be overhauled. Perhaps we could even return farming to a free-market system instead of a government controlled program.

But, don't forget that school lunch programs and food stamps all fall under the "farm program" - so chances are you or your friends are receiving "farm subsidies".

Money drives politics. It has for as long as I can remember and I am sure it will in the future. So whatever politicians have to do to get money is the story and what principles they have to compromise is not. Principles are like old girl friends. Sometime they show up smiling and sometimes they show up with a paternity suit in hand, although I have never actually experienced such an encounter. But then again I have never run for office.

And if you are going to use the defense that it was his wife's family, not his, think about this. You have a choice what family to marry into.

I also notice you had nothing to say about him supporting his father's 11th term while being for term limits.

I can tell you that my father received farm subsidies - crop insurance (we usually didn't get hail). As I said before, the hail and crop insurance needs to be taken away from the government and made available by the public (same as with flood insurance).

Who better than someone who has knowledge of the farm program to KNOW how it should be run better and in many areas, eliminated? My father (a farmer) blasted it every spring and every fall. One year the USDA had his entire farmland mapped out with his "required crops" - he told them to stick it and their insurance. He had a bumper crop of wheat and barley while his neighbors had to plant a different type of wheat - with poor yield, puny sunflowers and set-aside. They got their money from crop insurance (taxpayers) - he got his money from the elevators.

I guess you could then say that Rand Paul has more inside information as to know the downfalls of the farm program - and that would be a good thing - it's not like he is some ignorant slob from NYC, whining about something they know nothing about.

Considering that Ron Paul was a long established doctor before he entered the government he certainly is NOT another career politician. It's not like he is the most popular Congress member amongst the Band Of Thieves On The Hill. Nor is he given a high position on any committee. Without Paul in the House, there would have been no votes against the Iraqi Invasion. I have had a problem with term limits in the past - unless ALL congress members must abide by them. Until the corrupted politicians are either in the unemployment lines or in prison, we need all the honest statesmen we can get. There are only a handful and Ron Paul is one of the few.